FREEDOM OF

INFORMATION:Successes and Failures from a Global

Perspective

• Democracy is a system of government

where public officials are held

accountable for their actions by

citizens.

citizens need information which they use to

scrutinize and assess their government and

thus hold public officials accountable;

freedom of information is intimately tied to

the practice of democratic citizenship,

equally as essential as elections and civil

rights.

• Transparency is an

element necessary for

accountability

the rationale behind the rise of FOI

movements and the wide scale enactment

of FOI laws around the world.

2012 Relevant Data on FOI

94 nations have enacted FOI legislation;

Sub-national level, 178 FOI laws have been

enacted;

international level, at least three treaties

have been enacted;

at least 53 countries are "More or less close

to" adopting an FOI law

"The global Freedom of

Information (FOI) community

has recently begun a process of

substantial self-reflection in

order to assess whether their

initiatives are having a

measurable impact”.

Bentley and Calland Academic Paper

Findings and

Impact of

the Freedom of

Information

Laws

Accountability

FOI laws make

governments more

accountable.

Mungiu-Pippidi studies the

use of FOI laws as an anti-

corruption tool and finds

that there is a substantial

increase of control over

corruption up to twenty

years after the enactment

of an FOI Law.

Accountability Despite the presence of

other anti-corruption

measures (ratification of the

UN Convention against

Corruption, establishment of

an Anti-Corruption agency

and the Office of the

Ombudsman), only the

presence of an FOI law has a

significant effect on control

over corruption.

there is a substantial

increase in the number of

convictions in the first 8

years of enactment.

Responsiveness

impact of FOI laws on responsiveness is much

more ambivalent.

a study by Open Society Justice Initiative states

while 43% of countries that had FOI laws

experienced increased responsiveness in release

of government documents, 48% of requests were

denied, with 22% of denials in the form of mute

replies- that is, no reply was received.

Responsiveness

Responsiveness has not increased

considerably since 2006. A study by Access

to Info Europe (2011) on success rates of

requests for budget information notes that

less than half (26%) of requests were

successful. 19% received incomplete

information and 38% received mute replies.

Successful

Case:

MEXICO

The primary strength in the

Mexican

FOI Law lies in the following:

the existence of a blanket

public interest override;

the existence of a capable,

independent implementing

body, the Federal Institute for

Access to Public Information

(IFAI).

Other Salient Features:

Article 16 states that none of the

laws exemptions apply to

information necessary for

"investigating grave violations of

fundamental rights or crimes

against humanity." Meaning,

requests involving such

information cannot be denied,

even if national security is

invoked.

Other Salient Features:

Mexico's FOI law does not require

people requesting information to

state their purpose;

has strong procedural guidelines.

If an agency is unable to respond

to a request on time, the result is

assumed to be positive and the

burden is put on the agency in

case the response is not met.

Other Salient Features:

Mexico FOI law is implemented by

separate implementing agency, the

IFAI. It also holds the power to

review denied requests and acts as

an ombudsman for strengthening

the 'culture of transparency' in the

government.

The IFAI is also mandated to help

the applicant.

Data during the first three years

of Mexico's electronic freedom of

information system:

public officials performed at a "satisfactory"

level in 67% of the cases, 9% percent of agency

responses exceeded the expectations of the

requester, and only 24% of the responses were

demonstrably unsatisfactory;

the IFAI's satisfaction ratings dropped when it

came to responses for more complex documents.

the IFAI also extensively makes use of IT and the

internet in handling requests for information.

Contents of a

Strong FOI

Law (Ideal)

Presumption of Release

blanket coverage of all

government information;

all government information is

assumed to be open for access,

unless otherwise stated in the

exemptions;

essence of freedom of

information- that every citizen has

a right to access information.

Exemptions

the coverage of the FOI must be as

wide as possible;

The general rule is that all public

institutions must be covered;

FOI laws must be amenable to

accessing information from GOCCs

and private entities that perform

public duties.

Exemptions

Exemptions, if there are any, must

be clearly defined;

subjected to a public interest

override;

Mexico’s case: Exemptions do not

apply when it is a matter of public

interest, such as in violations of

human rights.

Exclusions:

distinct from exemptions;

must be as few as possible.

UK's FOI law has around 20

exemptions.

Existence of an independent

implementing agency

the ideal arrangement is to create

a special public body (with

Ombudsman Powers);

Note that without an independent

body, all appeals must go to the

courts.

Timeliness

there must be little delay in

getting documents (essential to

establish means of validation);

costs must be minimal;

specific procedural guidelines are

necessary to avoid the problem of

"mute requests”;

strict penalties for non-compliance

“Scrutiny is necessary for us to

determine the effectiveness of FOI laws,

and to see whether or not the spread of

an idea- that open access to government

information fosters the transparent

institutional environment necessary to be

able to hold ones government

accountable”.

Robert Hazell and Ben Worthy

"Assessing the Performance of Freedom of Information"

THANK YOU!